What is the basis for Calvinist double predestination, as opposed to single predestination?
score:4
To begin, let's be sure that we understand what double predestination means in Calvinism. You have it right, that God chooses both who is elect and who is non-elect, but it's important to note that in Calvinist double predestination, God actively saves the elect, but passively passes over the reprobate:
God positively or actively intervenes in the lives of the elect to insure their salvation. The rest of mankind God leaves to themselves. He does not create unbelief in their hearts.
This quote comes from Chosen by God, chapter 7, by R. C. Sproul, a leading Calvinist theologian. This book is a well-known introduction to Calvinism, particularly the difficult issues of God's sovereignty, original sin, predestination, and assurance, and I'll continue to refer to it below.
So what is the basis for this view? First R. C. Sproul argues that double predestination is logically necessary:
If there is such a thing as predestination at all, and if that predestination does not include all people, then we must not shrink from the necessary inference that there are two sides to predestination. It is not enough to talk about Jacob; we must also consider Esau.
Here Sproul is referring to the story of Jacob and Esau, beginning in Genesis 25. This opens up the second line of reasoning – that double predestination is taught in Scripture, particularly in Romans 9:10–18:
when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. (ESV)
Sproul summarizes, pointing to verse 18:
Some people get mercy, others get justice. The decision for this is in the hand of God.
A few more verses in Romans 9, verses 21–24, "clearly" teach double predestination, in Sproul's eyes:
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (ESV)
Summary
To summarize, Sproul argues that double predestination is 1) logically necessary, if we accept that only some are elect, and 2) biblical, particularly in light of Romans 9.
More post
- 📝 Has a substantial case been made from the New Testament that burning heretics is against the will of the Spirit?
- 📝 How do we know the serpent did not act on his own to deceive Adam and Eve?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, is it sinful to physically harm abortion doctors to prevent them from performing abortions?
- 📝 Is the Testament of Solomon Biblical?
- 📝 Can an early date for the certain Pauline epistles and a late date for Luke-Acts be reconciled?
- 📝 Do all Orthodox saints have their own akathist?
- 📝 Why do literalist Protestants reject transubstantiation?
- 📝 What is an overview of the main arguments that angels do or do not already exist at Genesis 1:1?
- 📝 Who is Mammon whom Jesus warned of in Sermon of the Mount?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church deny Anglican apostolic succession?
- 📝 Why is it the soul takes the punishment in hell after a sinful human body died on earth?
- 📝 When is the phrase "Word of God" first used to refer to the Scriptures?
- 📝 Are Jesus and Lazarus the only people raised from the dead?
- 📝 What is the central idea of the Bible?
- 📝 How do Lutherans who accept apostolic succession trace theirs?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church explain the addition of the word “died” in the Nicene Creed
- 📝 How do trinity-believers explain these verses from John 17?
- 📝 The seriousness of sin changed?
- 📝 Hebrews 5:1 and the pope
- 📝 Proof that Cyril of Alexandria is a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church?
- 📝 What are the common arguments against theistic evolution?
- 📝 How did early childhood baptisms started in Catholicism?
- 📝 Do any prominent theologians point to Old Testament prophecies of there being two comings of the Messiah?
- 📝 Changes in Rome since Trent versus the Evangelicals
- 📝 How do opponents of penal substitutionary atonement theory handle Isaiah 53?
- 📝 Why did St. Jerome place Peter's letters after James's letter if Peter was the leader of the apostles and the church?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church not celebrate the Feast of Naming of Jesus?
- 📝 Stars in the sky
- 📝 Why did the Catholic Church change so radically after Vatican II in regards to the status of Jews?
- 📝 Are people who "think a lot about" God, Jesus, right and wrong more likely to "qualify" to go to heaven?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the basis for Calvinist double predestination, as opposed to single predestination?
- 📝 What is the basis for Lutheran single predestination, as opposed to double predestination?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jesus' eternal pre-existence (as opposed to having been created a long time ago)?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the Dual Nature of Man as opposed to the Tripartite Nature?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for praying to Jesus, as opposed to praying to God in the name of Jesus?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the notional/ideal pre-existence of Jesus, as opposed to an actual pre-existence?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Trinity?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the claim that abortion is immoral?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the concept that Jesus spent time in Hell?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for Jesus being God incarnate?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Total Depravity?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for believing in the Book of Mormon?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for saying Lucifer is an angel?
- 📝 What is the scriptural basis for clerical celibacy?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Universal salvation?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for disbelief in the doctrine of the Trinity?
- 📝 What is the basis for not believing sola scriptura?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the Immaculate Conception?
- 📝 What is the Biblical Basis for a Good person going to hell simply for not believing?
- 📝 What is the basis that some Protestants teach the non-necessity of baptism for salvation?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Unconditional Election?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Limited Atonement?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for unitarianism?
- 📝 What is the scriptural basis for "Love God and do whatever you please"?
- 📝 What is the Bible basis for the idea of a temporary holding place?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for Irresistible Grace?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for withholding communion from believers who are unbaptized?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the prohibition of instruments in worship?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for saying that wives can divorce their physically abusive husbands?